Resonance is the tendency for an object to oscillate when energy is transferred to it at a specific set of frequencies known as harmonics of the natural frequency of the object. A simple example of this is pushing a child on a swing: by pushing the child at the right moment, more and more energy is transferred to the system and the amplitude of the oscillation grows.

In this comic, the friend is jiggling his leg up and down at a harmonic of the natural frequency of Cueball's desk. This causes Cueball's desk to vibrate more and more until objects on it start to bounce around. Rather than have the friend stop, Cueball wants him to slightly increase the frequency of the jiggling in order to spill the drink on Steve's desk (not pictured). However, it is hard to have a person control a subconscious movement exactly, let alone increase or decrease by exact figures.

In the title text, his friend confesses the obvious fact that he couldn't control the frequency very well.

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